Illegal Rakhine Settlement Built on Land of Displaced Rohingya in Maungdaw

Arakan Now | 17 Feb 2026

In 2024, Rohingya residents in the northern part of Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State—particularly in Taung Ywar village, Kyikanpyin Village Tract—were displaced from their homes. Following their removal, ethnic Rakhine families were resettled in the vacated houses and surrounding lands.

Many of the affected residents had previously fled to Bangladesh in 2017 during large-scale military operations, leaving behind homes, farmland, and other property. Since then, these residential and agricultural lands have remained without the return of their original owners.

Reporting and visual documentation collected by Arakan Now indicate that settlement expansion continued throughout 2024 on farmland and residential plots historically associated with the displaced Rohingya community. New settlement structures have been established on these lands.

An accompanying photograph shows settlement activity in Taung Ywar village on land previously inhabited by displaced Rohingya residents.

The developments raise concerns over displacement, occupation of civilian property, property rights, and the potential impact on the future return of displaced Rohingya residents to their homes and lands in northern Maungdaw Township.